Pest? Help ID

[evolve]

Found two of these on my spruce. They are very tiny bright green specs, about 0.5 mm in size, both were attached to needles by a very thin and rigid line. When I saw the first one I thought it was some sort of caterpillar / larva hanging from a silk webbing. I squished it. Then, I noticed the second which wasn't exactly hanging off the needle... more like floating off to the side. Upon closer inspection I could see that it was attached. It was quite a challenge to photograph, I had to break out the macro and tripod to mediocre results.



Any ideas? Thanks

 

[evolve]

Ok, think I figured this out after some further digging. It appears to be a Lacewing egg.

 

[berobinson82]

Looks exactly like a grape.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Ok, think I figured this out after some further digging. It appears to be a Lacewing egg.

Good to know, thanks for sharing. For those who don't know, lacewings are your friends. A few years ago, I destroyed a mantis sack, not knowing what it was. Won't do that again.

 

[Bill S]

Aren't lacewings bad for azeleas et. al.??

 

[evolve]

Not sure about Azaleas, but what I've read is that Lacewings prey on other pests -- mites, aphids, etc. From Wikipedia: "They are voracious predators, attacking most insects of suitable size, especially soft-bodied ones (aphids, caterpillars and other insect larvae, insect eggs, and at high population densities also each other)". My only concern if finding a large number of these eggs or evidence of Lacewings would be that it's likely a sign that these other pests are present.

 

[Stan Kengai]

Aren't lacewings bad for azeleas et. al.??

Bill, you're thinking of lace bugs, not lacewings. Lacewings feed strictly on other insects.

 

[gergwebber]

Good to know, thanks for sharing. For those who don't know, lacewings are your friends. A few years ago, I destroyed a mantis sack, not knowing what it was. Won't do that again.

one time I brought one inside for some reason and left it on the book self and about this time of year I found microscopic mantis' crawling all over my pratchet collection heres a pic:

http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd190/askkawagoe/Bugs/Prayingmantisnest-1.jpg